Like sprinters waiting for the start of a race, pedestrians poise themselves at the intersection of Lattice Bridge Road, Thiruvalluvar Salai and West Avenue Road, Thiruvanmiyur.
As soon as the green signal appears, pedestrians dart across the road to the other side before the signal flashes red again. With just a few seconds to cross the road safely, they have requested the Chennai Traffic Police to increase the crossing time at the intersection. The pedestrian crossing time is normally 45 seconds. But, in most traffic signals across the city, the crossing time has come down from 45 seconds to nine seconds
At this intersection, which sees a large number pedestrians crossing the road through the day, it has come down considerably. They want the CTP to control and coordinate the traffic lights to ensure that motorists and pedestrians pass by safely.
“The CTP personnel deployed at the intersection force the pedestrians to cross amidst the flow of vehicular traffic from West Avenue Road towards Lattice Bridge Road and Thiruvalluvar Salai and vice versa,” said G. Shankar, a resident of Thiruvanmiyur, said. Pedestrians face the risk of being knocked down by vehicles coming from West Avenue Road and Thiruvalluvar Salai towards Lattice Bridge Road.
To add to their woes, motorists coming from Lattice Bridge Road jump the signal and take a free left turn towards Thiruvalluvar Salai although there is no free left allowed at the intersection.
A traffic police personnel said that a technical glitch caused the timer to reduce the pedestrian crossing time. “We are monitoring the signal and are working on increasing the crossing time for the pedestrians,’ the officer added.
